A Day at the Theatre

So I finally managed to watch Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. It has already be in theatres for almost a month and a half. I'm glad I went to see it, because it's worth seeing in theatres. Luckily, I didn't have to go see it alone. My roomate Aaron hadn't seen it yet...actually he hadn't even seen the second one before this weekend! To solve this dilemma, my other roomate (Victor) helped me download the second movie off of BitTorrent. It was a really speedy download: 2.8 gigs in only about ten hours! After much convincing, Aaron was ready to watch it. Now it was just a matter of getting there and back. It was decided that the best way would be taking a taxi. It cost around $7 bucks one way and the movie cost $8.50. But like I said, it was money well spent. Thankfully I didn't have to go see by myself...Thanks Aaron!

When we got there, I was actually quite surprised to see that the movie theatre was almost full! I would say that i was at least 3/4 full. I thought I was the last person to go see it...i guess there were a lot of others in a similar situation as myself (unless they were going to see it for a second time). The people behind me were very annoying as well. They kept talking throughout the movie and the person directly behind me kept kicking my seat. Since I know my Seinfield very well, i used the half-turn. Then another half-turn. Then, I was forced to use the full-turn. Luckily, I didn't have to resort to anything worse.

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

How was the movie itself? Excellent. I enjoyed it throughly, even though it did drag on near the end. I thought they did a good job with the spider. Quite a few people in the theatre I was at were audibly squirming. The battle scenes were just tremendous. And Gollum was incredible. I really liked Gollum in the second movie and he's just as good if not better in the ROTK. How did Lucas screw up Jar Jar in Star Wars so badly?

Just a few minor quibbles: The undead army that Aragon summons was a little cheesy. I don't know how it was written in the book, but I didn't think it played out too well in the movie. The other quibble I have concerns the hobbits and their gayness. Someone mentioned this to me before I went to see ROTK and it was fresh in my mind while I watched. Although it didn't ruin the movie for me, it was undeniably present (the gayness, that is). Especially near the end when the Hobbits are in bed together or whenever they gaze into each other's eyes. To further illustrate, here are few quotes from movie critics:

Perhaps it's the Jungian cornucopia of homoerotic symbolism (the swords! the staffs! the towers!) and the endless moony, moist gazes between members of the all-male Fellowship as they gird their loins for battle. There are times in Return of the King, as halfling faces halfling or king faces elf, when you want to stand up and shout, "Kiss him already!"

Set on its two giant legs of the towers, the "Eye of Sauron" looks unmistakably like a big, angry vagina in the sky. (No doubt there's a good graduate-school thesis to be written about homo-erotic bonding and the fear of the feminine in The Lord of the Rings).

Here's a quote for Tim Ho, a noted Philly Eagles fan:

Philadelphians can take particular delight in the ecstatic cry offered up in Return's third act: "The eagles are coming!" Alas, the magnificent, digitally rendered birds that swoop down to pluck exhausted bravehearts from a molten flood bear little resemblance to Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook and the fellowship of the Linc.

***END OF SPOILERS***

Enough about LOTR. This weekend is the SuperBowl!!! This is the first time in a very long time that I haven't watched it. The reason for this is because we don't have TV in Waterloo (which is for the best). As I'm writing this, they are tied with time running out in the fourth quarter. Looks like I missed a competitive game, which is rare for the SuperBowl. The sports writers have been writing about the SuperBowl nonstop this week, but this article takes an interesting angle: SuperBowl weekend is the absolutely slowest weekend for weddings in the entire year. So if you are ever planning a wedding, remember not to schedule it during SuperBowl weekend...unless you're really cheap.